#stepswordsen

Our WATGBS AU is named Crown of the Dark Stars (暗黒星の冠, Ankokusei no Kanmuri) 💫👑 It's an AU with its own story, separate from the original WATGBS.

WATGBS AU: COTDS is an Idate and IdaTatsu centric AU between me and my friends 💞 COTDS stands for Crown of the Dark Stars 👑💫 Its other name is Ankokusei no Kanmuri.

WATGBS AU: COTDS, which stands for Crown of the Dark Stars, or Ankokusei no Kanmuri, is an Idate centric and IdaTatsu AU between me and my friends that's a complete revamp and rewrite of WATGBS.

WATGBS AU: COTDS is an AU between me and my friends! We all contribute to it whenever we have time to draw and write for it 😌🙏

Summary of WATGBS AU: COTDS would literally just be: (Yoinks characters and the settings, makes an original story)

It's just us writing our own stories and exploring our ideas with the characters, mainly focused on him and his dynamics with other charas. We made up our own lore and revamped the characters' writing and designs. It's just us playing with our revamped and rewritten blorbo OCs in our sandbox 💞

WATGBS AU: COTDS is centered around Idate, a chaotic evil demon orca man who originally wanted to unleash the apocalypse, but became too mellow after meeting Tatsumiya.

It's an Idate centric AU that heavily focuses on IdaTatsu (Idate/Tatsumiya), and the platonic familial dynamic between the orca brothers, Idate and his older twin brother, Takama. And it has a heavier emphasis on fantasy elements. And we have our own OCs we created for it too, like our IdaTatsu fankids 🤭

Idate: The Star Eater and Grand Demon

Idate (伊達 (イダテ)) is the evil protagonist of WATGBS AU: COTDS 🖤🤍💙 He is Tatsumiya's husband and Takama's younger twin brother.

Idate is the "Star Eater" and Lord of the Underworld. Idate drinks peoples' blood and eats their souls as nourishment. He and his older twin brothers are Demons. They're secretly Grand Demons (大魔王, Dai Maou), who have much more powerful magic than other Demons. They originally lived in Iceberg Isle, but Idate ends up convincing Takama to move to the Blue Sea Kingdom with him so he can live with Tatsumiya.

He's a chaotic evil demon orca and the evil protag of our AU, which makes him very fun for me to write! 🐬💞 I love writing for IdaTatsu and the others, and coming up with and adding onto each everyones' ideas whenever we discuss.

He's extremely chaotic and the world's most insufferable wifeguy /endearing that falls devastatingly in love with and eventually gets married to Tatsumiya. They feel drawn to each other, someone who's the complete opposite of the other, someone who represents what the other has never known, and tries to figure each other out.

Idate's character theme is "Void" 🖤

Idate eating and stealing souls also plays up to his whole void theme.

He's the Lord of Space and the Underworld, whose void world that contains the dead souls of all the people he ate for power.

Idate's powers represent the concept of "Void."

Idate can access a different dimension (the void between worlds), to create darkness and call it from within himself. Infinite darkness. An infinite void. Idate can create and access voids, and can call upon and manipulate darkness.

Idate's leitmotif is the Black Sun. His void is a black hole.

Idate can make makeshift weapons from dark energy. It's a black demon aura that can be controlled at will and slash into things.

Stardust is the source of all magic in the sea in our AU. Idate can make makeshift weapons from dark energy (black stardust).

Tatsumiya: The Dragon Flower and Grand Sorcerer of the Blue Sea

Tatsumiya (竜宮) is the Grand Sorcerer of the Blue Sea Kingdom 🤍❤️ She's the Lord of Creation, and Idate's wife. And also my wifey wife wife <3 🥰😘 She's a magical oarfish that serves the Blue Sea Kingdom's Princess, Lucinda, our Blue Sea Princess (BSP) OC. Her specialties are healing and star magic. 🌠

She's known as the Dragon Flower (龍花, Ryuuka) because her reputation with the sword spread across the Blue Sea. She has soul restoration and soothing properties with her powers to calm souls.

Tatsumiya is the Messenger/Aide to the Blue Sea Kingdom's Princess 💞 Her title is Grand Sorcerer (大魔導士, Dai-Madoushi). In our WATGBS AU, she took on the role after Meikai's disappearance.

Tatsumiya's leitmotif is the Moon.

As the complete opposite of Idate, her main powers are controlling flowing water, star magic (creation magic), and healing. Her royal duties as the Blue Sea's Messenger, are similar to a shrine maiden's.

Tatsumiya is so wifey to me 🤭

In WATGBS AU: COTDS, she is Idate's wife!

IdaTatsu: The Two Messengers, the Sun and the Moon

Tatsumiya is the Blue Sea Kingdom's Grand Sorcerer. Idate is one of the Grand Demons that came from elsewhere. The two Messengers of their opposing Gods.

Idate and Tatsumiya are opposites in terms of their powers, personalities, and roles. Both Idate and Tatsu are Messengers of their opposing "Gods" and queens. Our own OCs, Algol and Lucinda, are the Red Sea Princess (BSP) and Blue Sea Princess (BSP) respectively.

Tatsumiya, one of the brightest stars in the sea, and Idate the Star Eater 💞

WATGBS AU: COTDS' headcanon versions of the characters' designs

In our WATGBS AU's revamped versions of the charas (our headcanon designs), Idate is buff and has scars.

He wears blue eyeliner, and black sun and star earrings to match with Tatsumiya's red eyeliner and star and moon earrings 🌠☀️🌕

(I'll add Tatsu's earrings in the future!)

Idate wears blue eyeliner, which is the same as Tatsumiya's favourite colour, ultramarine blue (群青色, gunjyou iro) 💙

At first this was coincidental, I added it to his design cuz I thought he looked nice with eyeliner and so it'd have great visual contrast with Tatsu's design, but then I found out that Tatsu's favourite colour was ultramarine blue. So the colour I chose for Idate's eyeliner coincidentally, ended up being the same as Tatsu's fave colour…

Unintentional big brain play from me 😌

I want to give them matching couple eyeliner and earrings! Idate wears black sun and star earrings, and Tatsu wears moon and star ones ☀️🌙🌠

Ofc these are still WIPs, so I'm planning to add them eventually.

IdaTatsu are the Sun/Moon, Yin/Yang, Light/Darkness themed couple in our AU <3 The Black Sun and the Moon ☀️🖤🌙

IdaTatsu's leitmotifs have a lot of narrative significance in COTDS, which ties back to our AU's central themes 🙏 I've given a lot of focus to their relationship ☺️

Name Meanings

Idate (伊達) 伊達 = Meaning “elegance; gallantry; sophistication; showy; having style”, or “putting on airs; showing off”

I chose the kanji reading Idate (伊達) cuz both meanings fit him very well! 🖤🤗

Idate (伊達) is my headcanon kanji reading of Idate's name. Since I wanted to pick a reading with a fitting name meaning for him!

My son. My homicidal oreo… 🐬 Oreorcat

I'll eventually turn these WIPs into concept art reference sheets! Though I might format them differently.

Tatsumiya (竜宮) 竜宮 = Meaning “Dragon Palace”

It's an alternate reading of Ryuuguu 🐉🏯 The Undersea Dragon Palace from the story of Urashima Tarou in Japanese folklore.

It comes from 竜宮の使い (Ryuuguu no tsukai), a giant deep-sea oarfish, known as "The Messenger/Envoy of the Undersea God's Palace" which is exactly what Tatsumiya represents as a character!

Other Versions

I think for some of these, I'd have to fix them manually cuz gradient maps and colour adjustment filters can throw the contrast out of wack so I'd paint over stuff later

Here's the rest of the batch of colour tests I did!

I did 18 in total but I only posted 10

Rambles

I've been obsessed with Ashiya Douman, the evil clown cat since December 2020. Didn't even take me a week to be obsessed. It took 5 days. Sen's Limbo December Descent 🙌

LimGuda is my comfort HC NBLNB ship 💚🧡 They've been one of my top fave ships since December 2020. The spice of a gay evil clown demon who hates humanity, with a karmic relationship of love/hate with the human they're in love with, is unparalleled.

I can’t get over how much I adore Douman. They’re simply the best. This chaos clown is a forever fave of mine~ I love how in-depth and nuanced this hot evil jester onmyouji is. The emotional nuance and complexity of this chara…

“WANTS TO WATCH THEM FALL TO HELL BUT UNWITTINGLY FALLS IN LOVE WITH THEM.” I’M DEVASTATED ABOUT THEM

The amount of detail that went into Douman's character and design is insane to me… Hasendow AKA Showichi Furumi (Douman's character artist/illustrator) has such a huge brain 🤯

My LimGuda collection is my pride and joy 🤭

My Douman/LimGuda merch pile pentagram from November 2022 LMAO. This isn't even all of it

(I tried to mimic the pentagram as much as possible. I scribbled out where I was standing on the bed)

When Douman first released on FGO NA in November 2022, I made a Douman pentagram filled with my Douman and LimGuda merch and fan-merch.

I did this back in 2022, so I have even MORE now to add to the Douman collection, so there's no way all of it is gonna fit on my bed

Douman merch summoning circle catalyst! We did summon an evil demon into my Chaldea~ Welcome home! You are now reunited with your BELOVED 🫶💚🧡

The clean up's gonna be hell with how detailed Douman's design is, but I love working with their colours! I wanna draw LimGuda in matching green and red Áo tấc so bad!!! Matching couple clothes~ 💘💞

Douman loves them with curses… LIKE A CAT TIPPING OVER VASES CUZ THEY WANT TO BE PAID ATTENTION TO. The whole “Limbo gets defeated/is overwhelmed by the power of feelies and their S/O’s Candid Sincerity" trope I love to see in their ship works that I wanna draw eventually btw… I wanna draw them lots!!!

Cinna said “Douman just reminds me of that ‘cat reacts to separation anxiety by trying to maul their owner’ thing I saw one time” LMAO

Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri Anthology Comic by AU

Source: (X)

(Context for my non-FGO mutuals following me)

Read the full 30+ pages above if you wanna check it out~

Reminds me of when I was rereading the Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri Anthology comic by AU (@/delete_au), that has huge amounts of LimGuda (Douman/Ritsuka) crumbs. DRIVES ME CRAZY...

AU (@/delete_au) is a popular Fate/Grand Order (FGO or Fate/GO) fan artist that's been commissioned to draw official works for Fate (including official merch)

AU’s art style is so intricately detailed and gorgeous. The perspectives, inking, and shading are so gorgeous. Huge art goals for me.

The Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri anthology comic has such beautiful art by AU (@/delete_au)

The way he sulks like a cat that wants to be paid attention to when Ritsuka hardly reacts when they sees the maimed shikigami 😭 Please give your kitty lots of attention!

Like once again Douman wants Ritsuka to pay attention to him and searches for reactions from them, but also, the way he refers to himself as their "loyal retainer"

Like a bird preening.

AU has a massive brain since the scenes, visuals, story and dialogue of this Anthology Comic were decided by them. It's also such a huge characterization surplus for Douman and such visual eye candy

Douman invited Ritsuka to fall into hell with them in-game in his My Room lines, and now they're the one inviting him, saying that they will drag him and take him along with them.

Douman tells them that the two of them are "bound by unbreakable/inseparable fate."

And the part where he sarcastically laughs at their speech by comparing it to Buddha's Great Vows, but also acknowledges their determination and tenacity... Aghhhh...

He makes this grandiose, deadly romantic speech back, telling them that they are "bound together by an unbreakable fate" (inseparable fate/karma)

JAW DROP??? THIS IS GAY AS HELL 🏳️‍🌈 LIMGUDA IS REAL!!! 💚🧡

I'm so glad for the fan-translation by u/kanramori

The EN fan-translation is SO good. I love the usage of Saṃvega at the end.

I got stuck on some parts reading the JP version cuz of Douman's vocabulary... I got to clear things up reading the VN fan-TL, and it was interesting to see how it was translated in Viet, but yeah the EN fan-TL cleared up so many things for me.

They drew the Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri chapter in one of the FGO anthologies. LIMGUDA ALSO INTERACT IN IT, AND THERE'S TONS OF LIMGUDA FOOD HEHEHEHE... Their art is so gorgeous. They're one of my favourite FGO artists, their works are stunning.

THE WHOLE THING IS SO DELICIOUS SO I'LL JUST SHOW A COUPLE PAGES FROM THE END, BUT OH MY GOD???

I LOVE THEMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IS REALLLLLLL

LimGuda so good... NB evil clown demon and the human they're deadly obsessed with...

Douman is gigantic. Ritsuka's 200 cm tall (~6"7) bf that loves them!!!

AU'S DOUMAN COMIC FROM THE FGO ANTHOLOGY COMIC WITH DOUMAN AND RITSUKA IS MAKING ME SCREAM WTF /pos /endearing

LimGuda inspired SO much of my writing, including my writing for other ships from other interests I'm into.

"Black/white colour schemed meow meow mf with a bloodthirsty personality and violent tendencies, and/or deadly love/obsession, is paired with a warm empathetic s/o with a brighter disposition"

This Sen-core ship trope is present in all of my ships LMAO

Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri by AU (Viet Fan-TL)

The VN fan-TL is pretty much VERY similar since it's based on the same JP text as the source material, but I'll highlight some neat tidbits I noticed

Source: (X)

道満：これぞ弘誓のごとき大言壮語！

道満：そうでしょうとも！

Douman: Such boastful words, just like Buddha’s great vows!

JP uses 弘誓 (Guzei, “Buddha’s great vows”)

The VN fan-TL uses Tứ Hoằng Thệ Nguyện ("The Four Encompassing Vows") of Buddhism, the fourfold bodhisattva vow. Only difference is that it refers to it directly

道満：そう！あなたとこの道満を結ぶは断ち切れぬ「因果」にございます

Douman: Yes, that's right! You and this Douman are connected by an unbreakable “fate”

JP uses 因果 (inga, "cause and effect; karma; fate")

VN fan-TL uses "Unbreakable karma (cause and effect)"

Nhân quả = Karmic cause and effect in Buddhism

I love the wording of him describing the way he's bound to them as “Unbreakable fate”

It's so sexy and fits so well with Douman’s character, saying they have a connection of inseparable fate/karma.

道満：厭穢欣浄（えんえごんじょう）

Douman: En’e’gon’jyou. (“I abhor this tainted world, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.”)

JP version has it as 厭穢欣浄 (En’e’gon’jyou, “I abhor this tainted world, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.”)

The VN fan-TL translated it as: Yếm ly uế độ, hân cầu Tịnh Độ = "I detest and want to leave the defilement of the Samsara, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land"

...

厭離穢土 (Onriedo/Enriedo, “Abhorrence of [living in] this impure world”)

The antithesis of Onriedo is 欣求浄土 (Gongujyoudo, “Seeking rebirth in the Pure Land”)

These are Yojijukugo (four character compounds), and concepts of Pure Land Buddhism that became popularized in the Heian era.

The full term is 「おんりえど・ごんぐじょうど」 (Onriedo/Enriedo - Gongujyoudo). The two combined, make a pair.

The phrase is usually shortened to 厭穢欣浄 (En’e’gon’jyou/En’ne’gon’jyou)

In Buddhism, it means, “I am disgusted with this world (I want to leave the world of filth/suffering and stain), and seek the Pure Land [of Buddha]”

...

Alternate Versions 🎨

Version 1

Original Colours

Version 2

Brightness/Contrast on Saeru and Ene

Increased Saturation (35%) on Saeru's eyes (brighter gold)

Increased Saturation (30%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Posterization (60%) on Saeru

Posterization (75%) on Ene

Version 3

Gradient Map on Color (30%) on Ene (to shift the Hue to a cooler blue)

Increased Saturation (20%) on Ene's eyes (more saturated blue)

Tone Curve (80%) on Saeru

Version 4

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to purple)

Version 5

Gradient Map on Color (15%) on Saeru (to shift the colours to red)

Gradient Map on Hard Mix (10%)

Version 6

Alt Version with Multiply Layer

Muted Purple on Multiply (40%)

Version 7

(Alt version with more muted colours on Ene)

Decreased Saturation on Ene's colours

Art Process 🎨

Red and Blue Contrast ❤️💙

I've been having fun playing around with colours, seeing which layers to turn off and such.

I've been playing around with Gradient Maps and Hue shifts and slightly different colours.

The purple/red toned Kuroha one is also really nice cuz it has nice visual contrast against all the cool colours (blues) in Ene's design

Red vs. blue contrast <3

Plus, it fits Kuroha to be tinted with red...

Considering the red tinted shots in the Outer Science MV where he smears the Mekakushi Dan members' blood over his face. ❤️

Love the chosen shots in this MV.

Outer Science is my top fave KagePro MV due to its stunning visuals and visual storytelling. 🐍

Additional Memory and Losstime Memory are also in my top faves.

The white, black and red shots here look so good. And the expressions as well~ I love Sidu's brilliant visual aesthetic sense.

Art Rambles 🎨

Rough sketch WIPs. I love their expressions here sm~ I started playing around with Gradient Maps cuz I love picking colours.

My works tend to lean towards using more saturated colours with high contrast.

So I ended up going with a more vibrant and saturated colour palette.

This shows my process for picking colours. I ended up picking the ones at the very top of the post, since those are my faves ✌️

I like having Ene's eyes as ice blue. 💙

I really like the blue hue shift on Ene, red hue shift on Kuroha, and generally more saturated colours and higher contrast. ❤️💙

The more red + purple toned Kuroha has really nice visual contrast against Ene's cool colours (blues) in her design tbh~

I started off with a more muted palette (different from what I'm used to), but ended up going with more saturated colours cuz I think it fit the mood of the piece more.

Though I think it'd still be fun to do both a Muted Colours and Saturated Colours version! 🙏

These doodles aren't refined, and just me roughly filling in the base colours on my sketches to get an idea of colours.

Since Idk when I'll get to refine these drawings and clean up the sketch and lines 😴💤

The finalized versions up top use a peach colour for Saeru's skin so the Correction Layers shift his skin to be brighter than Ene's

I think it fits for Saeru to have paler skin than Ene.

Brushes

I can talk more about my art process this time ☺️

My main sketching/lining brush is CSP's Oil Paint Flat brush

I use it for sketching/lining and filling in rough base colours, because I love using weighted inky brushes. So any similar brushes will work! 👍

CSP's official default sub tool brushes (Ver 1.10.9) were removed or updated in later versions of CSP, so I reinstalled it. It's available for free.

I used to use a thin soft brush when I was younger, but I think my art looks more interesting with textured brushes and thicker lines 😌

It's my fave brush, but it can't blend. So when I come back to rendering pieces again in the future, I'd use another brush for that.

I've played around with a lot of brushes but I'm the most comfortable using this one since I'm used to it.

Colours

It looks so glowy and really makes the colours pop! ✨

I have a tendency to shift hues in my arts for the colours used for lighting and shadows, to keep things looking visually interesting 💞

That's why I roughly splotched red on Kuroha's hair, and pinks and muted blues on Ene's hair and sweater to get an idea of what kinds of colours I wanted to use for them 🖤❤️💙

Coloured Lines

I always draw sketches/lines on Vector Layers, so I can easily move, scale, and rotate lines, adjust the thickness if needed, etc.

It makes it easier for me to redraw my sketches, since Vector Layers don't lose quality when scaled.

I duplicate the lineart and use a CSP Auto Action called Better Line Color that you can find on the CSP Assets Store.

It colours the lines according to the colours underneath, and makes a subtle glow on the lineart.

It does some steps like Gaussian Blur, other adjustments, then sets the Layer Mode to Colour Burn, Linear Burn, or Multiply.

The duplicated lineart, when set to a Layer Mode like Colour Burn (or Linear Burn), creates a nice subtle glowy effect that I've been using on my coloured doodles.

On my arts, I usually have it set to Colour Burn 👍

Having coloured lines makes such a huge difference with my art. I think it has a really nice effect on my art ✨💫

People have made similar tools, so there are also free ones on the CSP Assets Store.

Gradient Maps and Colour Corrections

Using Hard Mix helped me get the nice red colours on Saeru's hair on my own doodle ❤️

This is pretty much what I do, except I choose pretty saturated colours.

Correction Layers and Layer Modes are my best friend ✌️

My art process when it comes to picking colours goes like:

I may make a colour edit that I pick colours from

If not, then I eyeball the colours and adjust them as I go

I put a Posterization Layer and choose whatever looks the best

I put Gradient Map Layers on Low Opacity (10 - 20%)

I may play around with Layer Modes (Color, Hard Mix, etc.) on Gradient Maps

I use Correction Layers (ex. Hue/Saturation/Luminosity, Color Balance, Brightness/Contrast, Tone Curve)

I adjust the colours as needed

There are tons of free Gradient Maps on the CSP Assets store, so I use them to harmonize my colour palettes 🙏

I think that using Gradient Maps on Low Opacity and/or with Layer Modes can have really interesting results.

I usually put my Gradient Maps at about 10 - 20% and set the Layer Mode to Color.

So you can mute or saturate your colour palettes with them

Though sometimes just putting a Gradient Map on with Low Opacity looks better, so I play around with different Layer Modes

I put Hard Mix on low opacity cuz it can over saturate a drawing imo.

Posterization can also oversaturate the colours, so I adjust the Opacity if needed.

And I try to make sure that my colours aren't too over saturated.

KuroEne AU 🖤💛💙

Ok I also have something to add (once again I'm snatching these rambles from my side blog's rambles cuz I've yapped way too much about these two ‼️)

It's pretty unfortunate that my yapping and ramble posts outspeeds me creating art so I'm just waiting for the chance to draw so many of my KuroEne writing and art ideas so I can post them on main combined with drawings 🤸

Canon verse KuroEne is not “romance,” at least definitely not in the traditional sense. But there IS desire and passion, and a sense of yearning/longing, a need for warmth and fulfillment. It’s filled with desperation and tension and conflict, which makes it really interesting…

When I think about their relationship in this kind of canon-verse AU setting, it's infused with feelings of love, obsession, desire, passion, yearning, and attachment. 💗💘

It's so fun to think about Kuroha's selfish twisted nature and dark urges, combined with Ene's bold tenacity and confidence. Since he's someone that's generally observant and good at reading people and their desires, it makes him pair well with Ene who has trouble facing more honest feelings and being open about the things she wants.

I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. Like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and companionship on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses, and his intimate knowledge of her.

For 6/9, it's time to blast the anthem of my fave ship, Yuukei Yesterday~ The song dedicated to Takane's feelings and HaruTaka~ Tatatara!! 💗

Considering the theme of my art, though, I put a lyric from the song, "Shadow gate to love" 🎵🎧

I also wanna say that I'm seriously obsessed with my NB genderfluid Kuroha HC 🐍🖤💞

Kuroha can change his body into whatever he wants by using Konoha's Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes. In the Novel Route, he knows how to use Awakening Eyes to rebuild the body molecule by molecule and make him immune to other Eye Abilities.

Kuroha/Saeru's "Love" ❤️

I think it's interesting that canon verse KuroEne is a ship that's so tinged with angst and tragedy. But I also love that aspect about them. 😌💗💘

I think that in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, Kuroha believes that he and his S/O have a connection of karmic fate with each other, in the way that they'll continue to meet across all the different time loops, for all of eternity.

Kuroha’s love would inevitably be very dark and twisted, because he is that way at his core. At the end of a Route, he kills his S/O, and/or their friends, in order to meet with them forever. Ensuring the next coming of a new cycle is a priority to him.

The intimate knowledge that Kuroha/Saeru would have of his partner’s desires, wants, past, insecurities, relationships, etc., due to all the time loop resets, is so interesting to think about. 💗

And, he gets to be with the other party forever by doing this. It’s a win win for him! He doesn’t want to give that up. Cuz in some fucked up way, in his fucked up form of love and obsession, he creates the concept of “eternity” with his S/O, by killing them, and/or, their friends, constantly, endlessly.

As a means to an end

Kuroha is someone that wants to draw out "truth" to add to his "knowledge" (massive knowledge bank) and explore endless possibilities.

And Ene is someone who has trouble being honest, especially with her wants/desires, and Saeru was created for the purpose of granting wishes. So he finds it fun to tease her and rile her up, and fulfill her desires for warmth and pleasure, etc.

Ene asks Kuroha if he's learning how to pretend to be human throughout all the time loop resets. Kuroha says there’s no “pretending” about it. And it's true. He's been here since even before the beginning of the world. He asks her if you can really call it pretending at that point.

The end of Outer Science's MV shows Saeru in Azami's hair even before the creation of the world. He's existed before humans were born. He knows the nature of humans better than anyone else after observing them for a long time. He has so much knowledge, that the sheer extent of it is just unfathomable to the average person.

Each time the Route resets, he gets to “perfect” his knowledge, and in the context of intimacy, he gets to know his partner and their intimate desires even better and better, each time.

He constantly refines and adds to his “knowledge” every new Route. He likes learning new things about the other party. Kuroha likes how Ene, with her confrontational, brazen personality, and predictable unpredictability, always manages to find a way to catch him off guard and surprise him.

Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body means he has his face. His body. His voice. Ene can't shake off the feeling of how uncanny his resemblance is to them, physically, and gets reminded of Haruka and Konoha around him.

(Now I'll copy paste my rambles from my old posts that summarizes my KuroEne AU. Here. I added some new stuff at the end)

KuroEne AU: Set-up 🖤💙

Ok, I'm just gonna ramble about the setting of my KuroEne AU.

I also included a summary for context just in case my non-KagePro mutuals want to tune in to read these rambles.

I just wrote this quickly before I go to sleep. I have more to say but I think this is a good starter. 😴💤

In official KagePro media, the present day plot starts after 2 years, on the fateful day of August 15th (Kagerou/Heat Haze) Day.

The Kagerou Daze, the never ending world, swallows up people who die on August 15th, and gives those with especially strong desires, who are compatible with an Eye Ability, a substitute life so that they can return to the real world.

In most Routes, Saeru ends up orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths.

One thing you'll learn about KagePro is that this guy (Saeru) is responsible for almost everything bad that happens ✌️

Because killing them so that they'd come out with an Eye Ability, is a part of his plan to get the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze and into the real world.

Haruka's death leads to the creation of Konoha, and Takane's death causes her to lose her human body and become a cyber girl named Ene

There are multiple different ways that a KuroEne AU could go, depending on the Route.

KuroEne AU Routes are so fun to write, because any time I get a new idea, I can just put into a different Route (timeline) to explore all the "What if" scenarios that don't fit into a single Route. 🤭

Kuroha/Saeru's Plan and KonoEne

Normally, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan members meet each other in the present day plot after 2 years, the fateful day of August 15th, the day Kuroha/Saeru plans to kill everyone.

Kuroha/Saeru's plan is to gather all the snakes with a new Medusa in the real world (bringing the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze to the real world), and killing all Eye Ability users.

Then, he forces Mary, "the next Master," to rewind the world using the power of the Queen Snake, Combining Eyes.

In official media, Kuroha/Saeru usually possesses Konoha's body at the end of a Route on August 15th, the day he plans to proceed with the "Tragedy" and kill everyone.

I imagine that in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body MUCH earlier. Like, anywhere within the timespan after Takane and Haruka's deaths (1 - 2 years)

Because of this, Konoha and Ene usually end up meeting and befriending each other earlier. Ene recognizes Konoha as Haruka's game avatar from back then, and mistakes him for Haruka. Konoha asks if she has the wrong person, and Ene gets heartbroken at Konoha's seeming amnesia and inability to remember her.

Ene imposes a sense of distance around Konoha due to her conflicting feelings (he resembles the person she loved but isn't him).

In my AU, KonoEne establish a relationship dynamic of some kind (which varies depending on the Route), which either progresses to an acquaintance-ship, friendship, or intimate relationship.

Kuroha introduces himself to Ene for their first meeting in a Route

And then, at some point, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body. At this point, when he introduces himself and makes himself known to Ene for the first time, he can choose what information he wants to reveal, and how much.

For example, Kuroha can choose if he wants to introduce himself as Black Konoha, and/or "Saeru," or whether to reveal it for later.

(And he also chooses whether he wants to reveal his true identity as the Snake of Clearing Eyes.)

Ene later nicknames him "Kuroha" and "Saeru" to shorten the name.

He knows that the 1st one would be more familiar to Ene. To introduce himself with the 2nd one would make Ene more distrusting/suspicious of him.

Note: I feel like as long as it's a Route where Saeru and Ene play the game alone (and Ene doesn't meet the rest of the MekaDan until August 15th), then Saeru can tell Ene his true name once they've gotten closer.

I feel like Saeru would also tell her about the Eye Abilities (while keeping most of his past, such as the identity of his Master, vague)

I always HC that Ene mainly calls him "Saeru" after that.

He most likely doesn't reveal his true intentions (to kill the Mekakushi Dan) so soon, because he knows that if he does, Ene is (obviously) not gonna want to "play the game" (of being intimate with him) anymore, cuz it means that he is literally putting her and her friends' lives in danger.

Though, across multiple Routes, he probably does play around and experiment with the timing of when he reveals certain information, and how much.

I think in most Routes, Ene is suspicious of him at first, and asks about his intentions and what he's really after, and Kuroha/Saeru just tells her that it's too early to say yet, and that she will find out soon.

(Though, Kuroha could probably quell her suspicions with enough convincing, due to the massive amount of knowledge he carries)

KuroEne AU: Context ✍️

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru, who has messed around with human technology and innovation, has been able to develop a humanoid android/robot body with human flesh that Ene can transfer into.

This concept was originally inspired by Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman.exe), specifically, the NetNavis (humans' companion AIs in this universe) from MMBN/EXE.

NetNavis can transfer into CopyBots (android bodies) for limited amounts of time, to move around in the real world. These CopyBots take the appearance of the NetNavi that transfer into it.

In my KuroEne AU, I imagine it's battery powered, but with every Route, he gets better and faster at making it. Like he improves the battery life over time, so it goes from lasting an hour to lasting a whole day, etc.

Quoting these old rambles:

Note: In the first few Routes, Kuroha synthesizes the materials he needs in his lab, in order to create Ene's outer body. At this point, Ene's body is made by artificial human flesh.

I imagined that Ene's outer body looks fully humanoid on the exterior. The interior most likely has complex systems and wiring.

Then, he first comes up with the idea of using Awakening Eyes to make Ene's body. He delights in his own brilliant idea and wonders why he didn't think of it sooner? This way, he won't need such a meticulous process. So in all Routes after this, he uses this method to create Ene's body.

Kuroha/Saeru is so fucked up but that makes him interesting so I say let him be. He's so fun to write for 👍I'm fascinated by how sick in the head he is in about his love (twisted obsession). I love Saeru's mad scientist vibes in the KuroEne AU… 🖤💙

Awakening Eyes allows the owner of the body to make it into their "ideal body" and make it whatever they want. So he can do this, replicate it, and keep regenerating himself. And knowing this mf, he'd shed off his own skin from his body too to use as part of Ene's android body.

Feila and I came up with the idea that Kuroha could just use Konoha's Eye Ability Awakening Eyes to temporarily turn into Ene, then make it so that his body can shed off self healing skin (and any parts he needs). It makes making her android body infinitely easier cuz then he'd have all the parts needed to make her body.

Kuroha: You were made from me, and the unison of our parts, therefore we are one ❤️

According to the Novel Route, Kuroha/Saeru has knowledge from everything from the start of civilization...

In the Novel Route, Shintaro compares Saeru to "a living encyclopedia with a full grasp of everything from the start of civilization up to modern science."

That LN bit confirms that Kuroha/Saeru carries knowledge of the history of mankind and its technologies over (probably) millions or thousands of years.

Especially when scientists have made developments regarding wrapping living human-like skin onto a robot that can heal when cut.

If he carries knowledge from the start of civilization, so much knowledge that it's unfathomable to the average person, then yeah, I definitely think he could get it done (especially for the sake of my AU).

KuroEne's Intimacy 🐍🐇

Kuroha proposes that he has a solution for Ene not being able to move around in the real world, and introduces the little invention that he made, for her to test out, which Ene eventually agrees to, out of curiosity.

Ene feels a sense of gratefulness to him for allowing her to move around in the real world since it gets lonely in the cyber world, not being able to feel or touch anyone on the outside…

Kuroha gets to know and bonds with Ene, anywhere within this 1 - 2 year timespan, and at some point, Kuroha and Ene get intimate with each other.

Ene gives into the sense of longing/yearning that she feels for Kuroha/Saeru, a yearning for warmth and touch after being stuck alone in the cyber world for so long (in spite of everything - if she knows about his true identity at this point), which is in part caused by his vessel (being Konoha, who's in Haruka's body).

Kuroha knows how to react to her and what to say to her and how to act around her due to his knowledge, and so, seduces his S/O and tempts her with carnal pleasures, and they indulge in "the game/dance" of being intimate with each other.

Because Kuroha/Saeru keeps memories of previous Routes, he remembers memories of being with the Enes of previous Routes, and thus, knows how to react to her when talking/chatting with her normally, knows how to appease Ene's behaviours and whims, goes along with what she wants, knows how to get the responses he wants when he wants something from his partner (so he knows how to seduce them), and knows how to satisfy his partner in the context of intimacy.

Because of the knowledge he carries, he knows the context, past, Eye Abilities, vulnerabilities, etc., of every Mekakushi Dan member, and that includes Ene. So he'd definitely know about Haruka and Takane, and Konoha and Ene's context and relationship together.

The person who's her greatest enemy (whether she knows it at this point or not), very literally knows everything about her.

And not only that, the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan, knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha/Saeru's Nature ❤️

Not only does he weaponize Konoha's body by using Konoha's body as a murder weapon to kill everyone at the end of a Route, he weaponizes words, too. Kuroha/Saeru uses "knowledge" as an advantage over his partner, and weaponizes knowledge. Actually staggering advantage. Because he knows almost everything.

Kuroha ships are like the only time I have ships where one party in the ship has THIS much of an advantage over their partner.

Therefore, as I said before, Kuroha/Saeru ultimately has a power imbalance with his partner (any Mekakushi Dan member that he could be paired with).

He has an overwhelming advantage over his partner due to his role (set-up as an antagonist constantly killing the cast) and capabilities. It is ultimately in his favour.

That fact in itself, that the power imbalance exists, isn't inherently a bad thing, it just means that you NEED to tread carefully with portraying Kuroha's ships. I always make sure to depict my ships with as much care as possible, and as healthy as possible.

Ene is one of the characters who is a really good match with him. Because making Ene more assertive and dominant in the KuroEne ship, and making them take turns in leading intimacy, with having Kuroha letting Ene take control through their bedroom intimacy at times, helps alleviate this power imbalance slightly.

Kuroha is literally so fucked up dude cuz even his twisted form of affection that he holds for his S/O (the Mekakushi Dan member who he's paired with), is still in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

Due to his twisted nature, he embodies Koi (恋), "Selfish love," "loving someone for their own sake."

Even when he caters to his partner's pleasures, it still ultimately caters to his pleasures the most. That makes him interesting, though. Someone so inherently dark and twisted and sinister, with selfish desires like that… 🥰💖✨

Misc Rambles ✍️

Colour Edit: Me

So I imagine, in most KuroEne AU routes, he reveals his true intentions either approaching the fated day of August 15th, or right on the day of August 15th.

There's absolutely a sense of betrayal that Ene would feel following the reveal of his true intentions - he built up a relationship with her, on purpose, just to drop the worst possible scenario imaginable.

Like let's be real. The reveal of "I've been killing you and your friends throughout multiple Routes (timelines)" just sounds like a nightmarish scenario, especially if you've been fucking this guy, like come on. 😭

And something that would make Ene get especially pissed at him, is if he decides to reveal that he was responsible for orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths in the first place.

(In official media, Ene sees Konoha for the first time, on August 15th, 2 years after Haruka and Takane's deaths)

Though, there are probably KuroEne AU routes where Konoha and Ene don't get the chance to meet each other - Routes where Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body before the two can actually meet, so when Ene sees who she thinks is "Konoha" for the first time, it's actually Kuroha/Saeru. With this kind of setting, he could even pretend to be Konoha, if he wanted.

And then on August 15th, he proceeds with killing the Mekakushi Dan with sadistic glee (and even his S/O - though if he's feeling nice, then he can spare them, since he doesn't need to kill everyone), and forces Mary to rewind the world.

Thankfully, due to the nature of Ene's body and predicament, she won't feel physical pain even if he kills her. And then, a new Route (timeline) begins.

Shadow gate to love

Song: (X)

Lyrics: (X)

The song, "Shadow gate to love," sung by the sub-unit, Guilty Kiss, in Love Live! Sunshine!! is sooo Sen ship-core.

It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine. ✌️

My favourite version of Shadow gate to love is this fan-edit that pitches down the song to match the original voice actors’ voices, compared to their characters’ voices (which are higher in pitch)

Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

In KagePro, though, the mention of "Strong scented eyes" takes on another meaning cuz of the emphasis on EYES, particularly the Eye Abilities.

I also love the emphasis on the Light/Darkness aspect and seduction in the lyrics.

KuroEne: Kuroha seduces Ene by tempting her with carnal pleasures, and keeps the secrets of his plan to commit the Tragedy (killing the Mekakushi Dan on August 15th, Kagerou Day) hidden from her. He tells her "beautiful lies" in order to keep up his facade.

He decides to act tamer prior to the fated date of August 15th, catering to her desires and befriending and bonding her and spending time with her and actually getting to know her.

They'd do soft and fluffy stuff like go to the amusement park together, play video games together, and eventually, get intimate with each other.

Due to his inherently dark and twisted nature, Kuroha/Saeru prioritizes his own desires and desire for immortality, and constantly keeps causing the Tragedy by killing the Mekakushi Dan, Mary's friends, forcing the time loop resets.

He also believes that doing this allows him to be with his partner forever, because he can continue to come and meet them forever and ever.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋) 💗

Azami's genuine pure form of love for her family, willingly sacrificing herself for her family.

Vs.

(In the context of a Kuroha ship AU)

Kuroha/Saeru holding a twisted form of affection and obsession for his S/O and wanting to continue the time loop Tragedy in order to be with his S/O forever in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

He looks up to his Masters and serves them, but won't put anyone else above himself and his wants and needs.

In the end, he's doing this all for Azami, because he believes that this is what she truly wanted and needed, but ends up being the one causing her the most suffering.

"Selfless" vs. "Selfish" love.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami -> "Loving someone for the sake of someone else"

Kuroha -> "Loving someone for one's own sake"

Kuroha's twisted selfish love and how he ultimately loves someone for his own sake, to experience the "high" of being in love...

"Love is Karma."

This fits so well with Kuroha/Saeru's character and KuroEne. Good god.

I can't put any more images due to Tumblr's image limit so you can read about the two loves (Ai vs. Koi) here

Source: (X)

Misc Rambles

If you wanna put it crudely or in funny terms, then Kuroha/Saeru ships are like the most elaborate ships with the time loop tragedy causing serial killer, in the history of anything ever. But actually really interesting and fascinating.

"I'm gonna kill you" boogaloo (and nothing else) is not very compelling for ships (and even in general) lol

In canon-verse, Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity and forms of care for others (when compared to my other faves).

2024 vs. 2022

(2024)

Comparison (2022 ~ 2023)

(2024)

Comparison (November 2022)

For the kissy one:

Wasn't sure which one I liked more tbh

1st one fits more...

Though for the 2nd one, I think Judar looks more efforted ADHSHDHSH

Since I excel at drawing meow meow mf charas

3rd one I drew in November 2022. The expressions are still cute in this one so I still like it, but my brush strokes improved a lot since then

For the hanfu Judar one:

Recent versions (+ the old one from 2022)

I've been playing around with the eyes~ I like these ones best. The eyes are bigger in the 1st one, and the others have them a bit smaller. The 1st one has a more innocent look. The 2nd has more slitted eyes and a "seductive" look?

Judar has sharp (tsurime) eyes and rings in his eyes, which are really fun to draw hehe 🤗

I'll redraw the hair soon! I just drew it quickly in like 5 minutes. It's finals season for me. I'm not fully free from this semester so I'm still quite busy, but you'll probably see small doodles from me 🙏

I'm definitely seeing art improvement (improvement in brush strokes and anatomy and proportions)

Ohtaka deliberately draws hatched lines near Judar's eyes to represent his eyeshadow 🤭 ❤️

I drew the hair quickly, so I didn't pay much attention to the shapes of the hair spikes so it's not as soft. But even with the quick doodle, the hair has better weight now. Once I get to refine things properly, I'll actually pay attention to the way his hair spikes are drawn.

I was recently rereading my old dialogue scripts from my JuAli AU and revamping them! I doodled Judar and Alibaba SO much in 2022. It's the Fire/Ice duality and Black Cat x Golden Retriever ship dynamic 🖤💛🐈‍⬛🐕

I wanna draw JuAli again soon and redraw my old doodles. JuAli is my main Magi ship so ofc I wanna draw lots of them~ I haven't gotten the time yet, but I want to draw my ships like AliHaku, SinJa, and KouMor eventually, too 🙏✨

Inspiration

Based on this black and red (Judar colours) hanfu I got~

Judar rambles

I originally drew Judar wearing hanfu in 2022! Still one of my personal fave doodles ❤️ Judar is my fave (no one is surprised, I have the most obvious predictable tastes in the world LMAO). A meow meow mf perfect for my tastes.

Judar fits perfectly into the highly specific Sen-core niche that my top faves all tend to fall under - Meow meow mf. C*nty sen-core bastard cat who's violent, threatens people, and ok with murder. Bloodthirsty. Monochrome aesthetic colour palette.

Manga Judar has red eyeliner (?) and anime Judar has purple eyeshadow? Both are good, but I like Judar with red eyeliner since black and red are his theme colours! 🖤❤️ I like how the colours pop, the contrast against his design, and how it matches his red eyes.

In my HCs, Judar wears a type of hanfu called Ruqun (襦裙). Ru (襦) is the cross-collared top of a hanfu, and the wrap-around skirt is called Qun (裙). The coat jacket is called Da Xiu Shan (大袖衫).

I want him to wear black, white, red, gold, hanfu & hanfu earrings, with red eyeliner and black painted nails 🤗

I still need to pick my headcanon hanfu earrings for Judar... I imagine they'd be gold with red accessories.

I just have to refine the eyes, redraw the hair and hanfu, and then start doing the lineart for it! I love the expression tbh

Additional rambles

I miss my sons, I wanna draw my HC designs of JuAli (with Judar wearing hanfu and Alibaba with tanner skin, wearing Arab traditional clothes), as a fix-it for the obvious colourism going on in Magi's character designs of SWANA and South Asian inspired characters

I bought black and red hanfu back in 2023. I based my Judar hanfu doodles on it 🥺❤️ It's in Judar colours. Black red and white 🖤❤️🤍 I'm so HAPPY to get something that reminds me of my fave 🥰🤭❤️✨ I got it from the Hanfu Story~ They have such a large selection of hanfu and they're all so gorgeous~

Basically Judar themed hanfu~ I love traditional clothes, so it's my dream to collect them! Now I can use it as refs to draw him with the poses and lighting I want teehee. Hanfu & huafu look GORGEOUS to me. I also have Việt Phục like áo dài and áo tấc~

The colours are amazing!! I love black and red combo 😭💖 It's way too easy to fall into the fashion hole and collecting traditional clothes but I definitely want more in the future!

Magi: Ch. 110 - 111, Ch. 196 - 197, Ch. 239, Ch. 288

I love how Ohtaka stylizes and draws the shape of Judar's hair and braids. It's so clever how she simplifies the shapes. It just looks so good. It looks galaxy/tornado shaped… I love how the hatched lines above his eyes in Ohtaka's inking represents his eyeliner... ❤️

Judar's expressions from Ch. 110 - 111 are so unhinged… The Ch. 288 omake Judar is iconic. Fucking crazy ass LMAO 😭😂 Love you tho! 💞🫶

I'll be honest. I've thought about changing my PFP to this Judar again from the Magi omakes, like I thought of doing it as an April Fool's joke before, but I feel like no one would bat an eye cuz of how my faves are like LMFAO

Sen-core faves: Murderous, bloodthirsty, violent (or at the very least, has a disposition for violence), MAY eat people and/or their innards 🙌

JuAli core ship posts

And while you're at it, have the meme edit of them I made (1st image)

Anyways I made the 1st image's meme edit myself <33

Alibaba with tanner skin has such great visual contrast against his earrings~

I also wanna commission arts of JuAli at one point but I'd want to do it with my headcanon designs of them (Judar wearing hanfu and Alibaba with tanner skin wearing Arab traditional clothes)

Art rambles

When I sketch, I draw out the expressions and decide which ones looks best (I either do it once or a few ~ several times) depending on whether I'm satisfied with it. I like the two most recent 2024 versions I showed~ The old ones are still nice... But I prefer the recent versions, because I think it shows how my art style and proportions improved.

These sketches are super messy right now so when I get the time I'll refine them more! It's just to make it consistent with my current style. I'm a little insecure about my sketches, so I prefer to keep most of them on priv for mutuals.

Since I'm not really a fan of the idea of my sketches/WIPs getting posted around when I'm bound to fix/refine/improve on them later when I get the chance to refine them. Though thankfully with my 2022+ lining style, my sketches look more "aesthetically nice" or "post worthy" to me...

Perhaps in the future... I do genuinely like my art style and I'm very happy with my art improvement, but I want to keep growing as an artist first. I want to reach the point where I manage to become more technically skilled and confident about my works (even my sketches)

Art Rambles

Version 8: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (50% Opacity)

Version 7: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 6: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (50% Opacity)

Version 5: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 4: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 3: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 2: Coloured Lineart

(Sketch is coloured a dark blue)

Version 1: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn)

(Sketch is coloured black)

KuroEne Kiss 😚 🖤 💙

Progress WIP shots of the Lineart set on Multiply vs. Multiply + Colour Burn (Combined)

These are still super sketchy lines for me since it's the 1st sketch pass (that looked good right away ^^)

I drew Kuroha with black nails (since I have a tendency to add painted nails and/or eyeliner on my fave) but Kuroha having black nails just felt so natural I forgot it was even a HC

I'm planning to do more sketch passes to clean up the sketch later on

Also I'm gonna say. Their headphones are lowkey annoying to draw 😭

Kuroha's are at least easier to draw due to the shape, but Ene's has this rectangular part on it that I honestly dislike drawing. I'll fix the sketch up eventually.

Also I adjusted the white colour on Ene's sweater compared to last time, so it's a bright tinted blue~ish white instead of pure white

Usually I don't repost stuff unless I redraw stuff (or make new edits and significant changes), but I figured I could talk about my art process this time.

I initially had Ene's eyes as ice blue for visual contrast against her hair.

With the lines being set on Multiply, the lines are slightly translucent

With the lines being set on Multiply + Colour Burn (combined), the lines gain a subtle glow on the edges.

In response to the lines being lighter, I upped the saturation of Ene's eyes.

I think having it at 20% Opacity looks best cuz it still harmonizes with the colours well

And I think I lightened the value of Kuroha's inner clothes a bit compared to last time. I'll play around with the values later.

I have a tendency to shift hues in my arts for the colours used for lighting and shadows, to keep things looking visually interesting.

That's why I roughly splotched red on Kuroha's hair, and pinks on Ene's hair and sweater to get an idea of colours

I've been playing around with a Auto Action called Better Line Color that you can find on the CSP Assets Store that colours the lines according to the colours underneath, and makes a subtle glow on the lineart.

It does some steps like Gaussian Blur, other adjustments, then sets the Layer Mode to Colour Burn, Linear Burn, or Multiply.

The duplicated lineart, when set to Colour Burn, creates a nice subtle glowy effect that I've been using on my coloured doodles.

Having coloured lines makes such a huge difference with my art. I think it has a really nice effect on my art 🥰

When I first tried it with the KuroEne doodle though, I was so confused cuz all white colours would show OVER the lineart. I found it strange cuz it didn't happen on my other drawings.

So then, for the KuroEne doodle, I just set the lines to Multiply Layer Mode instead. I think both versions look nice ^^

Colour Burn darkens shadows, deepens colours but preserves whites, so the whites show over the coloured lineart. The solution is to change the pure white to a tinted colour white instead. I'll fix that and make edits and combine both versions later.

So far, the dark spirals around Kuroha are on the same layers as the sketch, so it has the glowy lineart effect on it. Though I'll eventually make the dark spirals apart of the colours instead, like in Version 2

The version with the saturated purple glow still looks nice. This time I combined both Multiply and Colour Burn lineart versions.

...

I've been having fun playing around with colours, seeing which layers to turn off and such.

I've been playing around with Gradient Maps and Hue shifts and slightly different colours.

The purple/red toned Kuroha one is also really nice cuz it has nice visual contrast against all the cool colours (blues) in Ene's design

Red vs. blue contrast <3

Plus, it fits Kuroha to be tinted with red...

Considering the red tinted shots in the Outer Science MV where he smears the Mekakushi Dan members' blood over his face.

Love the chosen shots in this MV. Outer Science is my top fave KagePro MV due to its stunning visuals and visual storytelling. Additional Memory and Losstime Memory are also in my top faves.

The white, black and red shots here look so good. And the expressions as well~ I love Sidu's brilliant visual aesthetic sense.

KuroEne Rambles

Ok I also have something to add (once again I'm snatching these rambles from my side blog's rambles cuz I've yapped way too much about these two)

It's pretty unfortunate that my yapping and ramble posts outspeeds me creating art so I'm just waiting for the chance to draw so many of my KuroEne writing and art ideas so I can post them on main combined with drawings

Canon verse KuroEne is not “romance,” at least definitely not in the traditional sense. But there IS desire and passion, and a sense of yearning/longing, a need for warmth and fulfillment. It’s filled with desperation and tension and conflict, which makes it really interesting…

When I think about their relationship in this kind of canon-verse AU setting, it's infused with feelings of love, obsession, desire, passion, yearning, and attachment.

It's so fun to think about Kuroha's selfish twisted nature and dark urges, combined with Ene's bold tenacity and confidence. Since he's someone that's generally observant and good at reading people and their desires, it makes him pair well with Ene who has trouble facing more honest feelings and being open about the things she wants.

I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. Like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and companionship on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses, and his intimate knowledge of her.

For 9/6 day, it's time to blast the anthem of my fave ship, Yuukei Yesterday~ The song dedicated to Takane's feelings and HaruTaka~ Tatatara!! 💗

Considering the theme of my art, though, I put a lyric from Shadow gate to love.

I also wanna say that I'm seriously obsessed with my genderfluid Kuroha HC 💞

Kuroha can change his body into whatever he wants by using Konoha's Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes. In Novel Route, he knows how to use Awakening Eyes to rebuild the body molecule by molecule and make him immune to other Eye Abilities.

...

I think it's interesting that canon verse KuroEne is a ship that's so tinged with angst and tragedy. But I also love that aspect about them.

I think that in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, Kuroha believes that he and his S/O have a connection of karmic fate with each other, in the way that they'll continue to meet across all the different time loops, for all of eternity.

Kuroha’s love would inevitably be very dark and twisted, because he is that way at his core. At the end of a Route, he kills his S/O, and/or their friends, in order to meet with them forever. Ensuring the next coming of a new cycle is a priority to him.

The intimate knowledge that Kuroha/Saeru would have of his partner’s desires, wants, past, insecurities, relationships, etc., due to all the time loop resets, is so interesting to think about.

And, he gets to be with the other party forever by doing this. It’s a win win for him! He doesn’t want to give that up. Cuz in some fucked up way, in his fucked up form of love and obsession, he creates the concept of “eternity” with his S/O, by killing them, and/or, their friends, constantly, endlessly.

...

Kuroha is someone that wants to draw out "truth" to add to his "knowledge" (massive knowledge bank) and explore endless possibilities.

And Ene is someone who has trouble being honest, especially with her wants/desires, and Saeru was created for the purpose of granting wishes. So he finds it fun to tease her and rile her up, and fulfill her desires for warmth and pleasure, etc.

Ene asks Kuroha if he's learning how to pretend to be human throughout all the time loop resets. Kuroha says there’s no “pretending” about it. And it's true. He's been here since even before the beginning of the world. He asks her if you can really call it pretending at that point.

The end of Outer Science's MV shows Saeru in Azami's hair even before the creation of the world. He's existed before humans were born. He knows the nature of humans better than anyone else after observing them for a long time. He has so much knowledge, that the sheer extent of it is just unfathomable to the average person.

Each time the Route resets, he gets to “perfect” his knowledge, and in the context of intimacy, he gets to know his partner and their intimate desires even better and better, each time.

He constantly refines and adds to his “knowledge” every new Route. He likes learning new things about the other party. Kuroha likes how Ene, with her confrontational, brazen personality, and predictable unpredictability, always manages to find a way to catch him off guard and surprise him.

Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body means he has his face. His body. His voice. Ene can't shake off the feeling of how uncanny his resemblance is to them, physically, and gets reminded of Haruka and Konoha around him.

...

Now I'll copy paste my rambles from my old posts that summarizes my KuroEne AU. Here. I added some new stuff at the end

KuroEne AU: Set-up

Source: KagePro LN: 7 - from the darkness - Colour Illustration Source: Sidu's Mekakushi Dan Members Colour Illustrations

Ok, I'm just gonna ramble about the setting of my KuroEne AU.

I also included a summary for context just in case my non-KagePro mutuals want to tune in to read these rambles.

I just wrote this quickly before I go to sleep. I have more to say but I think this is a good starter.

In official KagePro media, the present day plot starts after 2 years, on the fateful day of August 15th (Kagerou/Heat Haze) Day.

The Kagerou Daze, the never ending world, swallows up people who die on August 15th, and gives those with especially strong desires, who are compatible with an Eye Ability, a substitute life so that they can return to the real world.

In most Routes, Saeru ends up orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths. One thing you'll learn about KagePro is that this guy (Kuroha) is responsible for almost everything bad that happens

Because killing them so that they'd come out with an Eye Ability, is a part of his plan to get the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze and into the real world.

Haruka's death leads to the creation of Konoha, and Takane's death causes her to lose her human body and become a cyber girl named Ene

There are multiple different ways that a KuroEne AU could go, depending on the Route. KuroEne AU Routes are so fun to write, because any time I get a new idea, I can just put into a different Route (timeline) to explore all the "What if" scenarios that don't fit into a single Route.

Kuroha's Plan and KonoEne

Source: @/x0401x

Mekakushi Dan Clear Files: (X)

Normally, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan members meet each other in the present day plot after 2 years, the fateful day of August 15th, the day Kuroha/Saeru plans to kill everyone.

Kuroha/Saeru's plan is to gather all the snakes with a new Medusa in the real world (bringing the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze to the real world), and killing all Eye Ability users.

Then, he forces Marry, "the next Master," to rewind the world using the power of the Queen Snake, Combining Eyes.

In official media, Kuroha/Saeru usually possesses Konoha's body at the end of a Route on August 15th, the day he plans to proceed with the "Tragedy" and kill everyone.

I imagine that in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body MUCH earlier. Like, anywhere within the timespan after Takane and Haruka's deaths (1 - 2 years)

Because of this, Konoha and Ene usually end up meeting and befriending each other earlier. Ene recognizes Konoha as Haruka's game avatar from back then, and mistakes him for Haruka. Konoha asks if she has the wrong person, and Ene gets heartbroken at Konoha's seeming amnesia and inability to remember her.

Ene imposes a sense of distance around Konoha due to her conflicting feelings (he resembles the person she loved but isn't him).

In my AU, KonoEne establish a relationship dynamic of some kind (which varies depending on the Route), which either progresses to an acquaintance-ship, friendship, or intimate relationship.

Kuroha introduces himself to Ene for their first meeting in a Route

Source: Sidu's 2016 Calendar Hanafuda Set

And then, at some point, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body. At this point, when he introduces himself and makes himself known to Ene for the first time, he can choose what information he wants to reveal, and how much.

For example, Kuroha can choose if he wants to introduce himself as Black Konoha, and/or "Saeru," or whether to reveal it for later. (And he also chooses whether he wants to reveal his true identity as the Snake of Clearing Eyes.)

Ene later nicknames him "Kuroha" and "Saeru" to shorten the name.

He knows that the 1st one would be more familiar to Ene. To introduce himself with the 2nd one would make Ene more distrusting/suspicious of him.

He most likely doesn't reveal his true intentions (to kill the Mekakushi Dan) so soon, because he knows that if he does, Ene is (obviously) not gonna want to "play the game" (of being intimate with him) anymore, cuz it means that he is literally putting her and her friends' lives in danger.

Though, across multiple Routes, he probably does play around and experiment with the timing of when he reveals certain information, and how much.

I think in most Routes, Ene is suspicious of him at first, and asks about his intentions and what he's really after, and Kuroha/Saeru just tells her that it's too early to say yet, and that she will find out soon.

(Though, Kuroha could probably quell her suspicions with enough convincing, due to the massive amount of knowledge he carries)

KuroEne AU: Context

Source: Mega Man Battle Network 6 (Rockman.exe 6)

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru, who has messed around with human technology and innovation, has been able to develop a humanoid android/robot body with human flesh that Ene can transfer into.

This concept is inspired by Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman.exe), specifically, the NetNavis (humans' companion AIs in this universe) from MMBN/EXE.

NetNavis can transfer into CopyBots (android bodies) for limited amounts of time, to move around in the real world. These CopyBots take the appearance of the NetNavi that transfer into it.

In my KuroEne AU, I imagine it's battery powered, but with every Route, he gets better and faster at making it. Like he improves the battery life over time, so it goes from lasting an hour to lasting a whole day, etc.

According to the KagePro LNs, Kuroha/Saeru has knowledge from everything from the start of civilization...

Shintaro in the KagePro LNs compares Saeru to "a living encyclopedia with a full grasp of everything from the start of civilization up to modern science."

That LN bit confirms that Kuroha/Saeru carries knowledge of the history of mankind and its technologies over (probably) millions or thousands of years.

Especially when scientists have made developments regarding wrapping living human-like skin onto a robot that can heal when cut.

If he carries knowledge from the start of civilization, so much knowledge that it's unfathomable to the average person, then yeah I definitely think he could get it done (especially for the sake of my AU).

KuroEne's Intimacy

Source: (X)

Scan: @/ayara-resara

Kuroha proposes that he has a solution for Ene not being able to move around in the real world, and introduces the little invention that he made, for her to test out, which Ene eventually agrees to, out of curiosity.

Ene feels a sense of gratefulness to him for allowing her to move around in the real world since it gets lonely in the cyber world, not being able to feel or touch anyone on the outside…

Kuroha gets to know and bonds with Ene, anywhere within this 1 - 2 year timespan, and at some point, Kuroha and Ene get intimate with each other.

Ene gives into the sense of longing/yearning that she feels for Kuroha/Saeru, a yearning for warmth and touch after being stuck alone in the cyber world for so long (in spite of everything - if she knows about his true identity at this point), which is in part caused by his vessel (being Konoha, who's in Haruka's body).

Kuroha knows how to react to her and what to say to her and how to act around her due to his knowledge, and so, seduces his S/O and tempts her with carnal pleasures, and they indulge in "the game/dance" of being intimate with each other.

Because Kuroha/Saeru keeps memories of previous Routes, he remembers memories of being with the Enes of previous Routes, and thus, knows how to react to her when talking/chatting with her normally, knows how to appease Ene's behaviours and whims, goes along with what she wants, knows how to get the responses he wants when he wants something from his partner (so he knows how to seduce them), and knows how to satisfy his partner in the context of intimacy.

Because of the knowledge he carries, he knows the context, past, Eye Abilities, vulnerabilities, etc., of every Mekakushi Dan member, and that includes Ene. So he'd definitely know about Haruka and Takane, and Konoha and Ene's context and relationship together.

The person who's her greatest enemy (whether she knows it at this point or not), very literally knows everything about her.

And not only that, the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan, knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha's Nature

Source: COSPA - Tsumamare Series (Keychains and Rubber Strap Charms)

Not only does he weaponize Konoha's body by using Konoha's body as a murder weapon to kill everyone at the end of a Route, he weaponizes words, too. Kuroha/Saeru uses "knowledge" as an advantage over his partner, and weaponizes knowledge. Actually staggering advantage. Because he knows almost everything.

Kuroha ships are like the only time I have ships where one party in the ship has THIS much of an advantage over their partner.

Therefore, as I said before, Kuroha/Saeru ultimately has a power imbalance with his partner (any Mekakushi Dan member that he could be paired with).

He has an overwhelming advantage over his partner due to his role (set-up as an antagonist constantly killing the cast) and capabilities. It is ultimately in his favour.

That fact in itself, that the power imbalance exists, isn't inherently a bad thing, it just means that you NEED to tread carefully with portraying Kuroha's ships. I always make sure to depict my ships with as much care as possible, and as healthy as possible.

Ene is one of the characters who is a really good match with him. Because making Ene more assertive and dominant in the KuroEne ship, and making them take turns in leading intimacy, with having Kuroha letting Ene take control through their bedroom intimacy at times, helps alleviate this power imbalance slightly.

Kuroha is literally so fucked up dude cuz even his twisted form of affection that he holds for his S/O (the Mekakushi Dan member who he's paired with), is still in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

Due to his twisted nature, he embodies Koi (恋), "Selfish love," "loving someone for their own sake."

Even when he caters to his partner's pleasures, it still ultimately caters to his pleasures the most. That makes him interesting, though. Someone so inherently dark and twisted and sinister, with selfish desires like that… 🥰💖✨

Misc Rambles

So I imagine, in most KuroEne AU routes, he reveals his true intentions either approaching the fated day of August 15th, or right on the day of August 15th.

There's absolutely a sense of betrayal that Ene would feel following the reveal of his true intentions - he built up a relationship with her, on purpose, just to drop the worst possible scenario imaginable.

Like let's be real. The reveal of "I've been killing you and your friends throughout multiple Routes (timelines)" just sounds like a nightmarish scenario, especially if you've been fucking this guy, like come on. 😭

And something that would make Ene get especially pissed at him, is if he decides to reveal that he was responsible for orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths in the first place.

(In official media, Ene sees Konoha for the first time, on August 15th, 2 years after Haruka and Takane's deaths)

Though, there are probably KuroEne AU routes where Konoha and Ene don't get the chance to meet each other - Routes where Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body before the two can actually meet, so when Ene sees who she thinks is "Konoha" for the first time, it's actually Kuroha/Saeru. With this kind of setting, he could even pretend to be Konoha, if he wanted.

And then on August 15th, he proceeds with killing the Mekakushi Dan with sadistic glee (and even his S/O - though if he's feeling nice, then he can spare them, since he doesn't need to kill everyone), and forces Marry to rewind the world.

Thankfully, due to the nature of Ene's body and predicament, she won't feel physical pain when he kills her. And then, a new Route (timeline) begins.

Previous KuroEne Posts

In my new post (this one), I wrote more about the set-up of my KuroEne AU, and then copy pasted my old rambles. I copy pasted the summary of my KuroEne AU cuz it felt relevant since I'm posting the same art.

My old post has some more rambles regarding some general ideas of my KuroEne AU (since I didn't feel the need to copy paste the same stuff here too)

Shadow gate to love

Lyrics:

Song: (X)

These lyrics work so well for ships like LimGuda, XanLena, IdaTatsu, and KuroEne.

The song sung by the sub-unit, Guilty Kiss, in Love Live! Sunshine!! My favourite version of Shadow gate to love is this fan-edit that pitches down the song to match the original voice actors’ voices, compared to their characters’ voices (which are higher in pitch)

Shadow gate to love is sooo Sen ship-core. It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine.

It’s my song to fall back on if I can’t think of any other songs for my ships. I think it fits these 4 the best, though.

Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

The lyrics are in the link above.

The lyrics of the song works for all of my meow meow mfs in general.

In KagePro, though, the mention of "Strong scented eyes" takes on another meaning cuz of the emphasis on EYES, particularly the Eye Abilities.

I also love the emphasis on the Light/Darkness aspect and seduction in the lyrics.

KuroEne: Kuroha seduces Ene by tempting her with carnal pleasures, and keeps the secrets of his plan to commit the Tragedy (killing the Mekakushi Dan on August 15th, Kagerou Day) hidden from her. He tells her "beautiful lies" in order to keep up his facade.

He decides to act tamer prior to the fated date of August 15th, catering to her desires and befriending and bonding her and spending time with her and actually getting to know her. They'd do soft and fluffy stuff like go to the amusement park together, play video games together, and eventually, get intimate with each other.

Due to his inherently dark and twisted nature, Kuroha/Saeru prioritizes his own desires and desire for immortality, and constantly keeps causing the Tragedy by killing the Mekakushi Dan, Marry's friends, forcing the time loop resets. He also believes that doing this allows him to be with his partner forever, because he can continue to come and meet them forever and ever.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami's genuine pure form of love for her family, willingly sacrificing herself for her family and mankind.

Vs.

(In the context of a Kuroha ship AU)

Kuroha/Saeru holding a twisted form of affection and obsession for his S/O and wanting to continue the time loop Tragedy in order to be with his S/O forever in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

He looks up to his Masters and serves them, but won't put anyone else above himself and his wants and needs.

In the end, he's doing this all for Azami, because he believes that this is what she truly wanted and needed, but ends up being the one causing her the most suffering.

"Selfless" vs. "Selfish" love.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami -> "Loving someone for the sake of someone else"

Kuroha -> "Loving someone for one's own sake"

Kuroha's twisted selfish love and how he ultimately loves someone for his own sake, to experience the "high" of being in love...

Reminded of that one chapter title from FGO: Tunguska Sanctuary event (Koyanskaya's main story chapter)

"Love is Karma, and Karma is..."

This fits so well with Kuroha/Saeru's character and KuroEne. Good god.

I can't put any more images due to Tumblr's image limit so you can read about the two loves (Ai vs. Koi) here

Source: (X)

...

If you wanna put it crudely or in funny terms, then Kuroha ships are like the most elaborate ships with the time loop tragedy causing serial killer, in the history of anything ever. But actually really interesting and fascinating.

"I'm gonna kill you" boogaloo (and nothing else) is not very compelling for ships (and even in general) lol

In canon-verse, Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity and forms of care for others (when compared to my other faves).

Context

I added context for my mutuals who don’t know much about KHR, but would still like to tune into my KHR AUs and KHR OC stuff. Feel free to read only if you want!

Vongola Family = The KHR protagonist, Tsuna, is currently training to become the 10th generation boss of the Vongola family. Tsuna and co. are the Vongola family’s 10th generation guardians.

Varia = The Vongola family’s elite independent assassination squad. Their leader is Xanxus.

Source: (X)

Nguyễn Selena: Relationship Chart 💜

Selena's Name Interpretation 🌙☁️🪷

Notes

Misc Rambles

Sorry but I don't want to retype all this again so I'm just copy pasting from my Notion doc and side blog. I also included my rambles with friends!

Selena's info sheet and character relationship chart was inspired by FGO Materials' character profile formats where it lists a chara's general info, usage of pronouns, quotes, relationships with other charas, etc.

I still need to revamp the quotes with Selena's relationships with the other Varia members so I just posted Xanxus' part for now

Selena is the type who's calm and gentle but likes to keep to herself regarding matters that don't concern her. She's more aloof when she doesn't know the person well, but eventually opens up to the other Varia members.

I imagine Selena speaks in a really polite and formal way to Xanxus out of respect for him.

Xanxus and Hibari are my no. 1 fave KHR characters (tied) 🥰

Also used Glaze on my art as protections against A/I fart.

Also I'm just thinking of the recent FGO: Summer 7 event with Douman growing cursed morning glories (vampiric shikigami), flowers that suck blood.

I NEED THIS FOR SELENA...

DOUMAN BASED!!!

Selena's man eating plants 🥰💞

Selena is very soft and gentle, but she can be a little unhinged, as a treat!